Accessing files in a database stage using a user defined function

ABSTRACT

A file access system for user defined functions (UDFs) can be implemented on a distributed database system. The system can store UDF interfaces and file reference objects that can be called by other users. Upon a UDF being called, files on a stage, one or more interface objects (e.g., InputStream), and file reference objects can be implemented by execution nodes of the distributed database system. The execution nodes can implement multiple threads that are authenticated and can download file data from a staging location concurrently.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/463,325 filed Aug. 31, 2021, which is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/390,969 filed Aug. 1, 2021, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/197,803 filed Jun. 7, 2021 and is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/244,349 filed Apr. 29, 2021, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,222,071, which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/942,352 filed Jul. 29, 2020, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,997,243, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/046,229, filed Jun. 30, 2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to a network-based database system or a cloud data platform and, more specifically, to implementing file access to user defined functions of a database.

BACKGROUND

Cloud-based data systems such as data warehouses provide users an ability to track and manage large amounts of data. Users can implement functions to process the data, such as user defined functions. However, implementing user defined functions on databases is limited and it is often not computationally practical to scale use of user defined functions on a large file (e.g., a one terabyte file) or a large number of files (e.g., 1,000,000 image files).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of various embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example computing environment that includes a network-based database system in communication with a cloud storage platform, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a compute service manager, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of an execution platform, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a computing environment conceptually illustrating an example software architecture executing a user defined function (UDF) by a process running on a given execution node of the execution platform, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows a data architecture for implementing file access to UDFs in a staging location, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6A and 6B show example flow diagrams for implementing file access for user defined functions, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7A and 7B show example flow diagrams for implementing references in user defined functions, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of a computer system within which a set of instructions may be executed for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to specific example embodiments for carrying out the inventive subject matter. Examples of these specific embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the subject matter. It will be understood that these examples are not intended to limit the scope of the claims to the illustrated embodiments. On the contrary, they are intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the scope of the disclosure.

As discussed, it can be difficult to implement database user defined functions (UDFs) in a scalable approach that can access files (e.g., a single large file, or a large quantity of files) for processing files. For example, a database user may seek to perform database processing of database in the data, where some of the data resides in files that need processing to complete the database operation. For example, a database user can have large (e.g., 1GB+) files with a format (e.g., nested arrays) that cannot be ingested by the database's native parser. As an additional example, the database user can have forms (e.g., PDF forms) in which fields are to be extracted (e.g., fields filled out by customers of the database user), and extraction of the fields from the data is required to complete the desired database processes by the database user. As an additional example, the database user can implement custom file formats (e.g., propriety to a given organization or application) and the custom file format needs to be converted to a target format (e.g., JSON) for native ingestion by the database system.

One further issue in implementing UDFs for access and processing of files on the database system is the different users and code types implemented to perform the database operations and UDF operations. For example, one of the users can include a SQL user who calls the UDF or stored procedure using the database language (e.g., SQL statements) to process the files. Further, another of the users can include a developer that has expertise in the code language of the UDF (e.g., a Java developer, a C++ developer). Notably, the calling user (e.g., SQL user) and the developer user may or may not be the same individual and may not be on the same teams and further may not even be in the same organizations. For example, third-party company provides can provide custom UDF code (e.g., custom JAR files) to the database user for use in their database applications.

To address the forgoing issues, a function file access system can store one or more UDF signatures specifying a function name or file reference that takes a path to files on a stage. The stage is a storage location for files to be processed (e.g., internal staging location in a database system, external object storage). The instructions of the UDF can be uploaded and stored on a database system. For example, in a Java UDF, a Java code file is stored. The UDF can be shared and executed in the distributed database between users. For example, a provider account user can create a UDF and share access to it to enable a consumer account user to call the UDF. In some example embodiments, when the consumer account user calls the UDF, the function file access system determines that the string corresponds to a UDF interface (e.g., such as Java InputStream), which has a pointer to the stage file (e.g., where the stage name is specified in the UDF signature, along with other parameters such as a location in the stream (e.g., “0”, “1000”). An execution node (XP Node) can receive the UDF requests over a network channel and authenticate that the user has access to the files, and if so, then transfers credentials to threads of an execution node for processing. The threads of the execution node can then retrieve and cache the file contents as pages in local memory of the execution node.

In some example embodiments, the pages are pre-cached such that if pages are later requested, those pages are already stored on the execution node. In some example embodiments, the function file access system performs just-in-time retrieval and the pages are not pre-cached but rather are downloaded upon being requested by a given UDF (e.g., one or more streams in a given UDF).

In some example embodiments, to ensure that the only paths passed into the UDF to initiate and download stage files are the specified paths (e.g., passed specified by caller), the file access system is configured to create a database object (e.g., reference object) as the parameter passed into the UDF. In some example embodiments, the object functions as a strongly typed parameter in which the object (e.g., InputStream object) is passed, and can further include functions to extend a UDF's operations, such as methods to perform compression and decompression based on the file's compression status, perform encryption and decryption based on the file's encryption status, retrieve and/or extract metadata.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example computing environment 100 that includes a database system in the example form of a database system 102, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. To avoid obscuring the inventive subject matter with unnecessary detail, various functional components that are not germane to conveying an understanding of the inventive subject matter have been omitted from FIG. 1. However, a skilled artisan will readily recognize that various additional functional components may be included as part of the computing environment 100 to facilitate additional functionality that is not specifically described herein. In other embodiments, the computing environment may comprise another type of network-based database system or a cloud data platform.

As shown, the computing environment 100 comprises the database system 102 in communication with a cloud storage platform 104 (e.g., AWS®, Microsoft Azure Blob Storage®, or Google Cloud Storage). The database system 102 is a network-based system used for reporting and analysis of integrated data from one or more disparate sources including one or more storage locations within the cloud storage platform 104. The cloud storage platform 104 comprises a plurality of computing machines and provides on-demand computer system resources such as data storage and computing power to the database system 102.

The database system 102 comprises a compute service manager 108, an execution platform 110, and one or more metadata databases 112. The database system 102 hosts and provides data reporting and analysis services to multiple client accounts.

The compute service manager 108 coordinates and manages operations of the database system 102. The compute service manager 108 also performs query optimization and compilation as well as managing clusters of computing services that provide compute resources (also referred to as “virtual warehouses”). The compute service manager 108 can support any number of client accounts such as end users providing data storage and retrieval requests, system administrators managing the systems and methods described herein, and other components/devices that interact with compute service manager 108.

The compute service manager 108 is also in communication with a client device 114. The client device 114 corresponds to a user of one of the multiple client accounts supported by the database system 102. A user may utilize the client device 114 to submit data storage, retrieval, and analysis requests to the compute service manager 108.

The compute service manager 108 is also coupled to one or more metadata databases 112 that store metadata pertaining to various functions and aspects associated with the database system 102 and its users. For example, a metadata database 112 may include a summary of data stored in remote data storage systems as well as data available from a local cache. Additionally, a metadata database 112 may include information regarding how data is organized in remote data storage systems (e.g., the cloud storage platform 104) and the local caches.

Information stored by a metadata database 112 allows systems and services to determine whether a piece of data needs to be accessed without loading or accessing the actual data from a storage device.

The compute service manager 108 is further coupled to the execution platform 110, which provides multiple computing resources that execute various data storage and data retrieval tasks. The execution platform 110 is coupled to cloud storage platform 104 of the cloud storage platform 104. The cloud storage platform 104 comprises multiple data storage devices 120-1 to 120-N. In some embodiments, the data storage devices 120-1 to 120-N are cloud-based storage devices located in one or more geographic locations. For example, the data storage devices 120-1 to 120-N may be part of a public cloud infrastructure or a private cloud infrastructure. The data storage devices 120-1 to 120-N may be hard disk drives (HDDs), solid state drives (SSDs), storage clusters, Amazon S3™ storage systems, or any other data storage technology. Additionally, the cloud storage platform 104 may include distributed file systems (such as Hadoop Distributed File Systems (HDFS)), object storage systems, and the like.

The execution platform 110 comprises a plurality of compute nodes. A set of processes on a compute node executes a query plan compiled by the compute service manager 108. The set of processes can include: a first process to execute the query plan; a second process to monitor and delete cache files using a least recently used (LRU) policy and implement an out of memory (OOM) error mitigation process; a third process that extracts health information from process logs and status to send back to the compute service manager 108; a fourth process to establish communication with the compute service manager 108 after a system boot; and a fifth process to handle all communication with a compute cluster for a given job provided by the compute service manager 108 and to communicate information back to the compute service manager 108 and other compute nodes of the execution platform 110.

In some embodiments, communication links between elements of the computing environment 100 are implemented via one or more data communication networks. These data communication networks may utilize any communication protocol and any type of communication medium. In some embodiments, the data communication networks are a combination of two or more data communication networks (or sub-Networks) coupled to one another. In alternate embodiments, these communication links are implemented using any type of communication medium and any communication protocol.

The compute service manager 108, metadata database(s) 112, execution platform 110, and cloud storage platform 104, are shown in FIG. 1 as individual discrete components. However, each of the compute service manager 108, metadata database(s) 112, execution platform 110, and cloud storage platform 104 may be implemented as a distributed system (e.g., distributed across multiple systems/platforms at multiple geographic locations). Additionally, each of the compute service manager 108, metadata database(s) 112, execution platform 110, and cloud storage platform 104 can be scaled up or down (independently of one another) depending on changes to the requests received and the changing needs of the database system 102. Thus, in the described embodiments, the database system 102 is dynamic and supports regular changes to meet the current data processing needs.

During typical operation, the database system 102 processes multiple jobs determined by the compute service manager 108. These jobs are scheduled and managed by the compute service manager 108 to determine when and how to execute the job. For example, the compute service manager 108 may divide the job into multiple discrete tasks and may determine what data is needed to execute each of the multiple discrete tasks. The compute service manager 108 may assign each of the multiple discrete tasks to one or more nodes of the execution platform 110 to process the task. The compute service manager 108 may determine what data is needed to process a task and further determine which nodes within the execution platform 110 are best suited to process the task. Some nodes may have already cached the data needed to process the task and, therefore, be a good candidate for processing the task. Metadata stored in a metadata database 112 assists the compute service manager 108 in determining which nodes in the execution platform 110 have already cached at least a portion of the data needed to process the task. One or more nodes in the execution platform 110 process the task using data cached by the nodes and, if necessary, data retrieved from the cloud storage platform 104. It is desirable to retrieve as much data as possible from caches within the execution platform 110 because the retrieval speed is typically much faster than retrieving data from the cloud storage platform 104.

As shown in FIG. 1, the computing environment 100 separates the execution platform 110 from the cloud storage platform 104. In this arrangement, the processing resources and cache resources in the execution platform 110 operate independently of the data storage devices 120-1 to 120-N in the cloud storage platform 104. Thus, the computing resources and cache resources are not restricted to specific data storage devices 120-1 to 120-N. Instead, all computing resources and all cache resources may retrieve data from, and store data to, any of the data storage resources in the cloud storage platform 104.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of the compute service manager 108, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the compute service manager 108 includes an access manager 202 and a credential management system 204 coupled to an access metadata database 206, which is an example of the metadata database(s) 112. Access manager 202 handles authentication and authorization tasks for the systems described herein. The credential management system 204 facilitates use of remote stored credentials to access external resources such as data resources in a remote storage device. As used herein, the remote storage devices may also be referred to as “persistent storage devices” or “shared storage devices.” For example, the credential management system 204 may create and maintain remote credential store definitions and credential objects (e.g., in the access metadata database 206). A remote credential store definition identifies a remote credential store and includes access information to access security credentials from the remote credential store. A credential object identifies one or more security credentials using non-sensitive information (e.g., text strings) that are to be retrieved from a remote credential store for use in accessing an external resource. When a request invoking an external resource is received at run time, the credential management system 204 and access manager 202 use information stored in the access metadata database 206 (e.g., a credential object and a credential store definition) to retrieve security credentials used to access the external resource from a remote credential store.

A request processing service 208 manages received data storage requests and data retrieval requests (e.g., jobs to be performed on database data). For example, the request processing service 208 may determine the data to process a received query (e.g., a data storage request or data retrieval request). The data may be stored in a cache within the execution platform 110 or in a data storage device in cloud storage platform 104.

A management console service 210 supports access to various systems and processes by administrators and other system managers. Additionally, the management console service 210 may receive a request to execute a job and monitor the workload on the system.

The compute service manager 108 also includes a job compiler 212, a job optimizer 214 and a job executor 216. The job compiler 212 parses a job into multiple discrete tasks and generates the execution code for each of the multiple discrete tasks. The job optimizer 214 determines the best method to execute the multiple discrete tasks based on the data that needs to be processed. The job optimizer 214 also handles various data pruning operations and other data optimization techniques to improve the speed and efficiency of executing the job. The job executor 216 executes the execution code for jobs received from a queue or determined by the compute service manager 108.

A job scheduler and coordinator 218 sends received jobs to the appropriate services or systems for compilation, optimization, and dispatch to the execution platform 110. For example, jobs may be prioritized and then processed in that prioritized order. In an embodiment, the job scheduler and coordinator 218 determines a priority for internal jobs that are scheduled by the compute service manager 108 with other “outside” jobs such as user queries that may be scheduled by other systems in the database but may utilize the same processing resources in the execution platform 110. In some embodiments, the job scheduler and coordinator 218 identifies or assigns particular nodes in the execution platform 110 to process particular tasks. A virtual warehouse manager 220 manages the operation of multiple virtual warehouses implemented in the execution platform 110. For example, the virtual warehouse manager 220 may generate query plans for executing received queries. The function file access system 230 is configured to manage file access to files in a stage using user defined function signatures and UDFs that point to the stage, as discussed in further detail below. Although in FIG. 2 the function file access system 230 is illustrated in the compute service manager 108, in some example embodiments instances of the function file access system 230 are implemented on execution nodes (XP nodes), e.g., for concurrent processing of files to access and retrieve from a stage, as discussed in further detail below.

Additionally, the compute service manager 108 includes a configuration and metadata manager 222, which manages the information related to the data stored in the remote data storage devices and in the local buffers (e.g., the buffers in execution platform 110). The configuration and metadata manager 222 uses metadata to determine which data files need to be accessed to retrieve data for processing a particular task or job. A monitor and workload analyzer 224 oversee processes performed by the compute service manager 108 and manages the distribution of tasks (e.g., workload) across the virtual warehouses and execution nodes in the execution platform 110. The monitor and workload analyzer 224 also redistributes tasks, as needed, based on changing workloads throughout the database system 102 and may further redistribute tasks based on a user (e.g., “external”) query workload that may also be processed by the execution platform 110. The configuration and metadata manager 222 and the monitor and workload analyzer 224 are coupled to a data storage device 226. Data storage device 226 in FIG. 2 represents any data storage device within the database system 102. For example, data storage device 226 may represent buffers in execution platform 110, storage devices in cloud storage platform 104, or any other storage device.

As described in embodiments herein, the compute service manager 108 validates all communication from an execution platform (e.g., the execution platform 110) to validate that the content and context of that communication are consistent with the task(s) known to be assigned to the execution platform. For example, an instance of the execution platform executing a query A should not be allowed to request access to data-source D (e.g., data storage device 226) that is not relevant to query A. Similarly, a given execution node (e.g., execution node 302-1 may need to communicate with another execution node (e.g., execution node 302-2), and should be disallowed from communicating with a third execution node (e.g., execution node 312-1) and any such illicit communication can be recorded (e.g., in a log or other location). Also, the information stored on a given execution node is restricted to data relevant to the current query and any other data is unusable, rendered so by destruction or encryption where the key is unavailable.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of the execution platform 110, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, the execution platform 110 includes multiple virtual warehouses, including virtual warehouse 1, virtual warehouse 2, and virtual warehouse n. Each virtual warehouse includes multiple execution nodes that each include a data cache and a processor. The virtual warehouses can execute multiple tasks in parallel by using the multiple execution nodes. As discussed herein, the execution platform 110 can add new virtual warehouses and drop existing virtual warehouses in real-time based on the current processing needs of the systems and users. This flexibility allows the execution platform 110 to quickly deploy large amounts of computing resources when needed without being forced to continue paying for those computing resources when they are no longer needed. All virtual warehouses can access data from any data storage device (e.g., any storage device in cloud storage platform 104).

Although each virtual warehouse shown in FIG. 3 includes three execution nodes, a particular virtual warehouse may include any number of execution nodes. Further, the number of execution nodes in a virtual warehouse is dynamic, such that new execution nodes are created when additional demand is present, and existing execution nodes are deleted when they are no longer useful.

Each virtual warehouse is capable of accessing any of the data storage devices 120-1 to 120-N shown in FIG. 1. Thus, the virtual warehouses are not necessarily assigned to a specific data storage device 120-1 to 120-N and, instead, can access data from any of the data storage devices 120-1 to 120-N within the cloud storage platform 104. Similarly, each of the execution nodes shown in FIG. 3 can access data from any of the data storage devices 120-1 to 120-N. In some embodiments, a particular virtual warehouse or a particular execution node may be temporarily assigned to a specific data storage device, but the virtual warehouse or execution node may later access data from any other data storage device.

In the example of FIG. 3, virtual warehouse 1 includes three execution nodes 302-1, 302-2, and 302-N. Execution node 302-1 includes a cache 304-1 and a processor 306-1. Execution node 302-2 includes a cache 304-2 and a processor 306-2. Execution node 302-N includes a cache 304-N and a processor 306-N. Each execution node 302-1, 302-2, and 302-N is associated with processing one or more data storage and/or data retrieval tasks. For example, a virtual warehouse may handle data storage and data retrieval tasks associated with an internal service, such as a clustering service, a materialized view refresh service, a file compaction service, a storage procedure service, or a file upgrade service. In other implementations, a particular virtual warehouse may handle data storage and data retrieval tasks associated with a particular data storage system or a particular category of data.

Similar to virtual warehouse 1 discussed above, virtual warehouse 2 includes three execution nodes 312-1, 312-2, and 312-N. Execution node 312-1 includes a cache 314-1 and a processor 316-1. Execution node 312-2 includes a cache 314-2 and a processor 316-2. Execution node 312-N includes a cache 314-N and a processor 316-N. Additionally, virtual warehouse 3 includes three execution nodes 322-1, 322-2, and 322-N. Execution node 322-1 includes a cache 324-1 and a processor 326-1. Execution node 322-2 includes a cache 324-2 and a processor 326-2. Execution node 322-N includes a cache 324-N and a processor 326-N.

In some embodiments, the execution nodes shown in FIG. 3 are stateless with respect to the data being cached by the execution nodes. For example, these execution nodes do not store or otherwise maintain state information about the execution node, or the data being cached by a particular execution node. Thus, in the event of an execution node failure, the failed node can be transparently replaced by another node. Since there is no state information associated with the failed execution node, the new (replacement) execution node can easily replace the failed node without concern for recreating a particular state.

Although the execution nodes shown in FIG. 3 each includes one data cache and one processor, alternate embodiments may include execution nodes containing any number of processors and any number of caches. Additionally, the caches may vary in size among the different execution nodes. The caches shown in

FIG. 3 store, in the local execution node, data that was retrieved from one or more data storage devices in cloud storage platform 104. Thus, the caches reduce or eliminate the bottleneck problems occurring in platforms that consistently retrieve data from remote storage systems. Instead of repeatedly accessing data from the remote storage devices, the systems and methods described herein access data from the caches in the execution nodes, which is significantly faster and avoids the bottleneck problem discussed above. In some embodiments, the caches are implemented using high-speed memory devices that provide fast access to the cached data. Each cache can store data from any of the storage devices in the cloud storage platform 104.

Further, the cache resources and computing resources may vary between different execution nodes. For example, one execution node may contain significant computing resources and minimal cache resources, making the execution node useful for tasks that require significant computing resources. Another execution node may contain significant cache resources and minimal computing resources, making this execution node useful for tasks that require caching of large amounts of data. Yet another execution node may contain cache resources providing faster input-output operations, useful for tasks that require fast scanning of large amounts of data. In some embodiments, the cache resources and computing resources associated with a particular execution node are determined when the execution node is created, based on the expected tasks to be performed by the execution node.

Additionally, the cache resources and computing resources associated with a particular execution node may change over time based on changing tasks performed by the execution node. For example, an execution node may be assigned more processing resources if the tasks performed by the execution node become more processor-intensive. Similarly, an execution node may be assigned more cache resources if the tasks performed by the execution node require a larger cache capacity.

Although virtual warehouses 1, 2, and n are associated with the same execution platform 110, the virtual warehouses may be implemented using multiple computing systems at multiple geographic locations. For example, virtual warehouse 1 can be implemented by a computing system at a first geographic location, while virtual warehouses 2 and n are implemented by another computing system at a second geographic location. In some embodiments, these different computing systems are cloud-based computing systems maintained by one or more different entities.

Additionally, each virtual warehouse is shown in FIG. 3 as having multiple execution nodes. The multiple execution nodes associated with each virtual warehouse may be implemented using multiple computing systems at multiple geographic locations. For example, an instance of virtual warehouse 1 implements execution nodes 302-1 and 302-2 on one computing platform at a geographic location and implements execution node 302-N at a different computing platform at another geographic location. Selecting particular computing systems to implement an execution node may depend on various factors, such as the level of resources needed for a particular execution node (e.g., processing resource requirements and cache requirements), the resources available at particular computing systems, communication capabilities of networks within a geographic location or between geographic locations, and which computing systems are already implementing other execution nodes in the virtual warehouse.

Execution platform 110 is also fault tolerant. For example, if one virtual warehouse fails, that virtual warehouse is quickly replaced with a different virtual warehouse at a different geographic location.

A particular execution platform 110 may include any number of virtual warehouses. Additionally, the number of virtual warehouses in a particular execution platform is dynamic, such that new virtual warehouses are created when additional processing and/or caching resources are needed. Similarly, existing virtual warehouses may be deleted when the resources associated with the virtual warehouse are no longer useful.

In some embodiments, the virtual warehouses may operate on the same data in cloud storage platform 104, but each virtual warehouse has its own execution nodes with independent processing and caching resources. This configuration allows requests on different virtual warehouses to be processed independently and with no interference between the requests. This independent processing, combined with the ability to dynamically add and remove virtual warehouses, supports the addition of new processing capacity for new users without impacting the performance observed by the existing users.

FIG. 4 is a computing environment 400 conceptually illustrating an example software architecture executing a user defined function (UDF) by a process running on a given execution node of the execution platform 110, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As illustrated, the execution node 302-1 from the execution platform 110 includes an execution node process 410, which in an embodiment is running on the processor 306-1 and can also utilize memory from the cache 304-1 (or another memory device or storage). As mentioned herein, a “process” or “computing process” can refer to an instance of a computer program that is being executed by one or more threads by an execution node or execution platform.

As mentioned before, the compute service manager 108 validates all communication from the execution platform 110 to validate that the content and context of that communication are consistent with the task(s) known to be assigned to the execution platform 110. For example, the execution platform 110 executing a query A is not allowed to request access to a particular data source (e.g., data storage device 226 or any one of the storage devices in the cloud storage platform 104) that is not relevant to query A. In an example, the execution node 302-1 may need to communicate with a second execution node (e.g., execution node 302-2), but the security mechanisms described herein can disallow communication with a third execution node (e.g., execution node 312-1). Moreover, any such illicit communication can be recorded (e.g., in a log 444 or other location). Further, the information stored on a given execution node is restricted to data relevant to the current query and any other data is unusable by destruction or encryption where the key is unavailable.

The execution node process 410 is executing a UDF client 412 in the example of FIG. 4. In an embodiment, the UDF client 412 is implemented to support UDFs written in a particular programming language such as JAVA, and the like. In an embodiment, the UDF client 412 is implemented in a different programming language (e.g., C or C++) than the user code 430, which can further improve security of the computing environment 400 by using a different codebase (e.g., one without the same or fewer potential security exploits).

User code 430 may be provided as a package e.g., in the form of a JAR (JAVA archive) file which includes code for one or more UDFs. Server implementation code 432, in an embodiment, is a JAR file that initiates a server which is responsible for receiving requests from the execution node process 410, assigning worker threads to execute user code, and returning the results, among other types of server tasks.

In an implementation, an operation from a UDF (e.g., JAVA based UDF) can be performed by a user code runtime 424 executing within a sandbox process 420 (e.g., UDF server 515). In an embodiment, the user code runtime 424 is implemented as a virtual machine, such as a JAVA virtual machine (JVM). Since the user code runtime 424 executes in a separate process relative to the execution node process 410, there is a lower risk of manipulating the execution node process 410. Results of performing the operation, among other types of information or messages, can be stored in a log 444 for review and retrieval. In an embodiment, the log 444 can be stored locally in memory at the execution node 302-1, or at a separate location such as the cloud storage platform 104. Moreover, such results can be returned from the user code runtime 424 to the UDF client 412 utilizing a high-performance protocol (e.g., without serialization or deserialization of data, without memory copies; operates on record batches without having to access individual columns, records or cells; utilizes efficient remote procedure call techniques and network protocol(s) for data transfer) for data transfer (e.g., distributed datasets) that further provides authentication and encryption of the data transfer. In an embodiment, the UDF client 412 uses a data transport mechanism that supports a network transfer of columnar data between the user code runtime 424 (and vice-versa).

Security Manager 422, in an example, can prevent completion of an operation from a given UDF by throwing an exception (e.g., if the operation is not permitted), or returns (e.g., doing nothing) if the operation is permitted. In an implementation, the Security Manager 422 is implemented as a JAVA security manager object that allows applications to implement a security policy such as a security manager policy 442, and enables an application to determine, before performing a possibly unsafe or sensitive operation, what the operation is and whether it is being attempted in a security context that allows the operation to be performed. The security manager policy 442 can be implemented as a file with permissions that the user code runtime 424 is granted. The application (e.g., UDF executed by the user code runtime 424) therefore can allow or disallow the operation based at least in part on the security policy.

Sandbox process 420, in an embodiment, is a sub-process (or separate process) from the execution node process 410. A sub-process, in an embodiment, refers to a child process of a given parent process (e.g., in this example, the execution node process 410). The sandbox process 420, in an example, is a program that reduces the risk of security breaches by restricting the running environment of untrusted applications using security mechanisms such as namespaces and secure computing modes (e.g., using a system call filter to an executing process and all its descendants, thus reducing the attack surface of the kernel of a given operating system). Moreover, in an example, the sandbox process 420 is a lightweight process in comparison to the execution node process 410 and is optimized (e.g., closely coupled to security mechanisms of a given operating system kernel) to process a database query in a secure manner within the sandbox environment.

In an embodiment, the sandbox process 420 can utilize a virtual network connection in order to communicate with other components within the subject system. A specific set of rules can be configured for the virtual network connection with respect to other components of the subject system. For example, such rules for the virtual network connection can be configured for a particular UDF to restrict the locations (e.g., particular sites on the Internet or components that the UDF can communicate) that are accessible by operations performed by the UDF. Thus, in this example, the UDF can be denied access to particular network locations or sites on the Internet.

The sandbox process 420 can be understood as providing a constrained computing environment for a process (or processes) within the sandbox, where these constrained processes can be controlled and restricted to limit access to certain computing resources.

Examples of security mechanisms can include the implementation of namespaces in which each respective group of processes executing within the sandbox environment has access to respective computing resources (e.g., process IDs, hostnames, user IDs, file names, names associated with network access, and inter-process communication) that are not accessible to another group of processes (which may have access to a different group of resources not accessible by the former group of processes), other container implementations, and the like. By having the sandbox process 420 execute as a sub-process to the execution node process 410, in some embodiments, latency in processing a given database query can be substantially reduced (e.g., a reduction in latency by a factor of 10× in some instances) in comparison with other techniques that may utilize a virtual machine solution by itself.

As further illustrated, the sandbox process 420 can utilize a sandbox policy 440 to enforce a given security policy. The sandbox policy 440 can be a file with information related to a configuration of the sandbox process 420 and details regarding restrictions, if any, and permissions for accessing and utilizing system resources. Example restrictions can include restrictions to network access, or file system access (e.g., remapping file system to place files in different locations that may not be accessible, other files can be mounted in different locations, and the like). The sandbox process 420 restricts the memory and processor (e.g., CPU) usage of the user code runtime 424, ensuring that other operations on the same execution node can execute without running out of resources.

As mentioned above, the sandbox process 420 is a sub-process (or separate process) from the execution node process 410, which in practice means that the sandbox process 420 resides in a separate memory space than the execution node process 410. In an occurrence of a security breach in connection with the sandbox process 420 (e.g., by errant or malicious code from a given UDF), if arbitrary memory is accessed by a malicious actor, the data or information stored by the execution node process is protected.

Although the above discussion of FIG. 4 describes components that are implemented using JAVA (e.g., object oriented programming language), it is appreciated that the other programming languages (e.g., interpreted programming languages) are supported by the computing environment 400. In an embodiment, PYTHON is supported for implementing and executing UDFs in the computing environment 400. In this example, the user code runtime 424 can be replaced with a PYTHON interpreter for executing operations from UDFs (e.g., written in PYTHON) within the sandbox process 420.

FIG. 5 shows a data architecture 500 for implementing file access to UDFs in a staging location, according to some example embodiments. The UDF server 515 (e.g., a child process (sandbox process 420) of the XP processes that runs a given execution node) can manage multiple UDFs 520 (e.g., UDF1, UDF2, UD3), each of which can be defined using a UDF signature (e.g., definition), discussed in further detail below. In accordance with some example embodiments, each UDF manages one or more UDF interfaces (e.g., a base class of the programming language). For instance, UDF1 manages streams 525 (e.g., Java InputStreams), where the number of streams can be specified as a parameter of the function or application being specified by the end-user defining the UDF signature(s). For example, if a given UDF is a difference comparing function to compare two different files (e.g., File 2 Page 2; and File 3 Page 4), then two streams (e.g., Stream1 and Stream2) can be created to process the two files (e.g., via threads), in accordance with some example embodiments.

The UDF server 515 can open, read, or close requests to the execution node 510 (e.g., execution node 302-1) via a network interface channel 530, such as Remote Procedure Call (e.g., gRPC, Google Remote Procedure Call), to read a stage file, where the execution node (XP node) does the actual downloading of the files (e.g., if the files are not already local). In the execution node 510, threads 535 serve the requests received from the network interface channel 530, e.g., to perform concurrent processing of requested data. In some example embodiments, each of the threads 535 accesses location and authorization in a stage location and credential storage 537. For example, each thread identifies the passed in stage data (e.g., “@path/file_name”) and checks whether the files are local (e.g., on the disk 545), and if not accesses the compute service manager 505 (e.g., compute service manager 108) to determine the location of the files of the stage data. In some example embodiments, the compute service manager 505 further determines whether a given thread has authorization to access files indicated by the stage data for the thread, and if so returns the location of the stage and credential data used to access the data (e.g., credential to an external stage location).

In some example embodiments, the threads use the received information of the stage location and credential storage 537 to access the storage device 536 (e.g., data storage device 120-1, cloud storage platform 104, object storage, S3 bucket) and then download the files piece by piece (e.g., as pages of a file), which are stored as pages 540 on local memory of the execution node 510 (e.g., disk 545). In some example embodiments, once downloaded, the threads then perform the processing of the files according to the UDF (e.g., parsing, metadata retrieval, field extraction). The download files can be in any structure, such as structured data, unstructured data (e.g., images), where the UDF is configured (e.g., by a UDF developer, Java developer) to process the files such that both structure and unstructured data can be extracted and stored in a database table. For example, a user can write a UDF to extract metadata from image files and one Comma-Separated Value (CSV) file, and such that when implemented by the system 230, the UDF extracts metadata from the images, extracts rows and columns from the CSV and stores the data in a table of the network based data warehouse system without sending the data to external tools (e.g., Apache Spark) for processing. In this way, the author of the UDF (e.g., the user that generates the Java UDF file and specifies the UDF signature) can develop the UDF in the network-based date warehouse system 102 in an efficient and scalable approach. For example, writing a Java UDF can be developed, compiled, and debugged in any Java environment (e.g., in a local debugging environment on the UDF developers computer), upload it to the UDF server as a Java file and then any other user (e.g., SQL caller, consumer users calling the UDF) can run the Java UDF as part of their regular database SQL execution.

Further, by implementing the file access system 230 the user that generates the Java UDF does not need to design it to scale. For example, if the amount of data to be processed is 1,000,000,000 files, the Java UDF does not need to be built to scale for the amount of files; rather, larger virtual warehouses (FIG. 3) can be instantiated and the scaling is handled by the native scaling (e.g., encryption, decryption of UDF specified files, compression/decompression, and compute instance allocation) of the network-based data warehouse system.

In some example embodiments, the files are downloaded as pages, where a page is a N size (e.g., 32 MB) chunk of the file. For example, 32 MB page size can be set as a parameter based on most files to be processed (e.g., 99%) have only one or two pages. In some example embodiments, during file downloading by the execution node, there is a node page buffer 538 (e.g., a page size buffer, a 32 MB memory buffer) that first cached with download data. When the node page buffer 538 is full it is written to disk 545 and the node page buffer 538 will be filled with subsequent data, and so on for the subsequent files and chunks. In this way, a very large file will produce a series of 32 MB files on disk, but in over 99% of the cases there will just be one page of contents in memory which is then sent directly to the channel 530 (e.g., gRPC channel) for processing by the UDF file. In some example embodiments, even if there is just one page it is still written to the disk 545 so that if other requests (of other threads in the node) want to read the file, the other requests just pull the file from the disk 545.

In some example embodiments, the next sequential pages are pre-cached in the node's cache (e.g., node page buffer 538). For example, UDF_1 can request Page2 of File3, and then to optimize performance, after a response is sent back to the UDF 1, the next pages (3 and 4) are downloaded (after access checking the computer service manager 505 to confirm access to those pages, as was done with Page2 of File 3, so that when a potential next request from UDF_1 is received requesting those pages, the thread just accesses the content from the local cache without going to the cloud, in accordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 6A shows a flow diagram of an example method 600 for implementing file access to user defined functions on a distributed database, according to some example environments. At operation 605, the function file access system 230 generates one or more user defined function definitions for a UDF UDF from a UDF developer). As an example, an end-user (e.g., SQL caller, UDF developer) in a consumer or provider account inputs a UDF function signature as follows:

:::::::::::::::::CODE BEGIN::::::::::::::::: public static int Func_123(InputStream s1, int pos1, InputStream s2, int pos2) //InputStream s1 and s2 are input streams to be passed in (e.g., locations, names), pos1 and pos2 are positions in stream :::::::::::::::::CODE END:::::::::::::::::

At operation 610, the function file access system 230 stores one or more user defined functions (UDFs) that correspond with the definitions of operation 605. For instance, an example EDI-to-JSON parser UDF (e.g., a Java program file, JAR) that can be received, uploaded or otherwise stored at operation 610 includes:

::::::::: ::::::::CODE BEGIN::::::::::::::::: import java.io.*; import com.berryworks.edireader.json.fromedi. EditoJson; public class Func_123{  public static String Parse(InputStream in)  {   final EditoJson editoJson = new EditoJson( );   editoJson.setFormatting(true); //format   editoJson.setAnnotated(false); //annotate   editoJson.setSummarize(false); //summarize   StringWriter sw = new StringWriter( );   try (Reader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(in, “UTF-8”));   Writer writer = new BufferedWriter(sw)) {   editoJson.asJson(reader, writer);   } catch (Exception e) {    throw new RuntimeException(e.getMessage( ));   }   return sw.toString( );  } } :::::::::::::::::CODE END:::::::::::::::::

At operation 615, the function file access system 230 receives a call for one of the UDFs. For example, the UDF is shared from a provider user to a consumer database user, and an end-user of the consumer database (e.g., SQL caller) inputs an SQL statement to call the function (e.g., a SELECT statement) on one or more stages and files:

:::::::::::::::::CODE BEGIN::::::::::::::::: SELECT Func_123(‘@stage1/path/file1’, 0, ‘@stage2/path/file2’, 1000) :::::::::::::::::CODE END:::::::::::::::::

In the above example, the stage is denoted by the “@” sign, followed by a path the file, where the stage may be in an external data store (e.g., cloud storage platform 104, S3 buckets) or internal storage (e.g., a database in the database system 102, storage within a given node, disk 545). At operation 620, the function file access system 230 processes the request for the UDF. For example, the file access system 230 examines the received input string (e.g., the above SELECT statement that specifies the files as strings) and determines that the string is actually a pointer to file(s) at the stage, and performs the processing using the UDF, as discussed in 613. For example, at runtime the file access system 230 examines the function signature and converts the string to the UDF interface (e.g., “InputStream”), where the string input argument will contain a valid stage file handle (e.g., @stage1). Although InputStream is discussed here as an example UDF Java interface, it is appreciated that the system likewise other user defined function interfaces, such as Java File, RandomAccessFile, and others. Further, although Java is discussed here an example language being implemented in the UDF, it is appreciated that other languages (e.g., PYTHON) and other function interfaces of a given language are implemented by the function file access system 230 in accordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 6B shows a flow diagram of the example method 650 processing requests for UDFs, according to some example embodiments. In accordance with some example embodiments, the operations of the method 650 can be performed as part of the operation 620 of FIG. 6A in which the UDF request is processed. At operation 655, the UDF server 515 generates node requests. For example, the UDF server 515 opens one or more streams 525 (e.g., InputStreams) according to a requested UDF (e.g., in the code of UDF1), and the UDF server 515 sends one or more “open” requests from streams to the execution node 510 via the channel 530.

At operation 660, the execution node 510 receives the requests. For example, the threads 535 receive the open requests from the channel 530. At operation 665, the computer service manager 505 authorizes the requests. :For example, thread 1 of the threads 535 requests authorization for access to one or more files in the storage device 536 (e.g., external storage), and the computer service manager 505 authorizes the thread's access (e.g., the consumer user account access of a consumer user that called the UDF) and gives the thread access data (e.g., credentials) to access the files.

At operation 670, the execution node 510 retrieves file data from the stage (e.g., storage platform). For example, each of the threads 535 concurrently requests and receives (if authorized) the location and credential data and downloads the file data from the storage device 536 to local memory of the node (e.g., disk 545) for further processing according to instructions in the called UDF at operation 675 (e.g., extract structured and/or unstructured data and store the data in a table by calling a UDF using the SQL, and then perform further database processing using further SQL statements).

FIGS. 7A and 7B discuss embodiments that implement file references for strongly typed UDFs. In some example embodiments (e.g., FIGS. 6A and 6B), on the SQL side, the file is represented by a string (e.g., “file1.jpg”), which gets translated to a UDF object (e.g., InputStream) on the UDF side (e.g., within operation in the UDF execution environment). When implementing file representation in SQL as a. string data type, there is no strong validation that the string is an actual reference to a file on a stage, which can cause execution and file access issues depending on what UDF and operations are being implemented. For example, the passed in string “@my_stage/folder1/abc/file.jpg” may be different, depending on whether the UDF is executed in the database user's context (e.g., user's system and directories) or the developer's context (e.g., UDF developer system and directories), and there may not be assurance to the SQL caller at calling time that the paths implemented by the UDF when activated are those paths as specified by the SQL caller. Additionally, it can be difficult for the UDF developer to correctly develop the code of the UDF, where not only the context can change, but also where the file data on the stage may or may not be compressed when downloaded to the node (e.g., natively compressed or decompressed by the computing environment 100). Additionally, the UDF developer may require access to metadata of the files on the stage to perform specific UDF processing (e.g., extracting metadata from images for Java UDF-based image processing of the images), and the UDF object may not provide access to the metadata. For example, if the developer's code receives only the InputStream Java interface, the metadata of the files on the stage is accessible to the developer through the provided interface.

To address the forgoing challenges, the file access system 230 receives a file reference from a database user in a UDF request and the file reference corresponds to a stage file reference structure (e.g., a class) for the UDF operations in the UDF upon creation. For example, the stage file reference structure can be structured as below:

:::::::::::::::::CODE BEGIN::::::::::::::::: {  “stage_name” : <stage_name>,  “relative_file_path” : <relative_file_path>,  “is_compressed” : <is_file_compressed>,  “is_encrypted” : <is_file_encrypted>,  “file_size” : <file_size_in_bytes>, } :::::::::::::::::CODE END:::::::::::::::::

In these example embodiments, the SQL call for the UDF (e.g., issued by the SQL user) can be structured as:

:::::::::::::::::CODE BEGIN::::::::::::::::: -- create stage //internal stage, external stage with credential access data  create stage my_stage; -- create Java UDE (creates UDF with file reference)  create function abc_(x varchar) //method named “abc_”  returns varchar  language java  handler=‘UserJourneyOne.abc_’ // handler object, points to UDF ‘UserJourneyOne’ to be implemented when abc_method is called, which can be named differently than the method “abc_”  target_path=‘@~/UserJourneyOne.jar’; //path to UDF file -- call UDF (calls abc_ to apply the UDF on the files of stage, e.g., file.csv)  SELECT abc_(‘@mystage/path/file.csv’); :::::::::::::::::CODE END:::::::::::::::::

In some example embodiments, the SQL caller wants to strongly specify that the stage name (e.g., paths) specified in the SQL is what is implemented by the UDF when called (e.g., not changed intentionally or unintentionally by the UDF to access other data not in the specified path). To this end, the UDF object is passed to the UDF using a file reference that builds a class that functions only on the specified paths to retrieve the staged data (e.g., files or existing metadata at the specified stage). For example, instead of passing in a string in the SQL call (e.g., SELECT abc_(@mystage/file1.csv), the database implements a database type to indicate to the SQL user that the files are staged files. For example, the SQL can be structured as SELECT abc_/STAGEFILES/(@mystage/file1.csv), where the reference “STAGEFILES” is configured as a write reference database type, and/or read reference database type, in accordance with some example embodiments.

In some example embodiments, a file reference based UDF (e.g., JAR file) can be structured below, as an example:

:::::::::::::::::CODE BEGIN::::::::::::::::: import com.udf.StageFileReference; //import file reference package import java.io.InputStream; //InputStream package import //below: class is created, abc_ is passed on StageFileReference, reference to staged files, and method is applied to inputFile (of the stage “@” path that is specified in SQL), which are local variables for the method class UserJoumeyOne{  public String abc_(StageFileReference inputFile) throws IOException { int data = 0; StageFileInputStream InputStream = null; String result = “NO_EXCEPTION”; //determines compression boolean readUncompressed = inputFile.isCompressed( ); //determines if processed and gets metadata per UDF's goals boolean alreadyProcessed = StageFileObjectMetadata .getMetadata(inputFile) //retrieves existing metadata stored at the stage with the stage files .getValue(“processed”); if (alreadyProcessed) { return “already processed”; } //try creates inputStream, examples catches handle potential errors. try { inputStream = new StageFileInputStream(inputFile, readUncompressed); data = inputStream.read( ); result = Base64.getDecoder( ).decode(data); } catch (FileNotFoundException e) { String messaging = “File doesn't exist or we don't have permissions.”; databaseLogger.info(messaging + e); result = messaging; } catch (IOException e) { String messaging = “Error while reading file.”; databaseLogger.info(messaging + e); result = messaging; } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { String messaging = “File contents could not be base64 decoded.”; databaseLogger.info(messaging + e); Result = messaging; } finally { //close the opened inputStream if (inputStream != null) { inputStream.close( ); } } //return the results return result; } :::::::::::::::::CODE END:::::::::::::::::

In the example UDF above, metadata from the stage files is retrieved; though it is appreciated that the processes of the UDF can change per the UDF's processing goals (e.g., image processing, field extracting, file format conversion, etc.), in accordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 7A shows a flow diagram of an example method 700 for implementing file reference objected based access to staged data using user defined functions on a distributed database, according to some example environments. At operation 705, the function file access system 230 generates a file reference based UDF. For example, a UDF developer generates UDF file (e.g., JAR file) that specifies the file reference object that is passed into the UDF per the SQL, and performs processing on the file(s), that are specified as an input file (e.g., “inputFile” above). In some example embodiments, the file reference based UDF exists (e.g., previously generated by a UDF developer) and operation 705 is omitted (e.g., the file reference based UDF is received and stored at operation 710).

At operation 710, the function file access system 230 stores one or more file reference based UDFs (e.g., as user code 430). At operation 715, the function file access system 230 receives a call for the UDF. For example, an SQL caller specifies the method (e.g., abc_), a handler that specifies the UDF and the UDF's location, with a SQL statement (e.g., select) to call the method on one or more stage paths (e.g., denoted by “@”) that contain staged files.

At operation 720, the function file access system 230 processes the request for the UDF. For example, UDF file is executed and the storage file reference object is passed in UDF runtime for processing (e.g., opening one or more InputStreams, file processing, closing the one or more InputStreams).

FIG. 7B shows a flow diagram of the example method 750 processing requests for UDFs, according to some example embodiments. In accordance with some example embodiments, the operations of the method 750 can be performed as part of the operation 720 of FIG. 7A in which the file reference objected based UDF is implemented to access and process files on a stage. In some example embodiments, the operations of 655-670 are performed as part of the method 750 to receive requests and retrieve the data from the stage. However, in the method 750, in performing the operations 655-670, since a file reference object was passed into the UDF (e.g., instead of the path as a stung), the only paths implemented by the UDF to access and download the stage data are those paths specified in the SQL call (e.g., received as instance or local variables of the class “UserJourneyOne”). Additionally, the file reference based processes can perform additional operations as specified by the UDF developer in the UDF. For example, at operation 755, the function file access system 230 checks a Boolean value of whether the input file is compressed, and if so, can perform decompression using one or more decompression schemes. Further, at operation 760, the function file access system 230 can extract or otherwise retrieve metadata of the input file (e.g., staged file), query the metadata, and perform processing according to the metadata query results. Further, at operation 765, the function file access system 230 performs one or more additional UDF operations (e.g., operations included in the imported stage file reference package) to generate result data (e.g., data converted to JSON format by the UDF).

Described implementations of the subject matter can include one or more features, alone or in combination as illustrated below by way of example.

Example 1. A method comprising: storing, by a distributed database, a user defined function file specifying a shared function, a user defined function class, and a file reference object that receives a path to files on a database stage, the file reference object passing in a user specified path to the user defined function class based on the user defined function file being called by a database user; receiving, by the distributed database, a database call for the user defined function file, the database call comprising a file path to one or more files on a stage; activating, on a function server of the distributed database, the shared function within the user defined function class on the function server; loading the files from the stage on an execution node of the distributed database using the file path in the database call; generating, by one or more hardware processors, result data by processing the one or more files using the shared function on the distributed database, the one or more files processed as local variables within the user defined function class using the file reference object; and storing the result data.

Example 2. The method of example 1, wherein the user defined function file is called by specifying a function name in the database call of the database user, where the function name is associated by the distributed database with the user defined function class that comprises the shared function.

Example 3. The method of any of examples 1 or 2, further comprising: creating a stage reference to the stage on the distributed database, wherein the stage reference is created according to a create stage request received from a database user of the distributed database.

Example 4. The method of any of examples 1-3, wherein the stage corresponds to an external storage device that is external to the distributed database.

Example 5. The method of any of examples 1-4, wherein the database call is received by the function server and transmitted to the execution node using a network channel.

Example 6. The method of any of examples 1-5, wherein the network channel comprises a remote procedure call (RPC) channel.

Example 7. The method of any of examples 1-6, wherein the user defined function file and the shared function are activated in a runtime environment on the execution node.

Example 8. The method of any of examples 1-7, wherein the user defined function file is generated by a provider database of the distributed database.

Example 9. The method of any of examples 1-8, wherein the execution node is managed by a consumer database of the distributed database that is distinct from the provider database of the distributed database.

Example 10. The method of any of examples 1-9, wherein the shared function is activated in a runtime environment in the execution node of the consumer database according to the user defined function file that is generated by the provider database.

Example 11. The method of any of examples 1-10, wherein the user defined function file comprises a Java Application Programming (JAR) file.

Example 12. The method of any of examples 1-11, wherein the runtime environment comprises a Java Virtual Machines (JVM).

Example 13. A system comprising: one or more processors of a machine; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the machine to perform operations implementing any of the methods of examples 1-12.

Example 14. A machine storage medium embodying instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations implementing any of the methods of examples 1-12.

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine 800 in the form of a computer system within which a set of instructions may be executed for causing the machine 800 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to an example embodiment. Specifically, FIG. 8 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine 800 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions 816 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code) for causing the machine 800 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. For example, the instructions 816 may cause the machine 800 to execute any one or more operations of the method 600. As another example, the instructions 816 may cause the machine 800 to implement one or more portions of the methods of FIG. 6A-7B. In this way, the instructions 816 transform a general, non-programmed machine into a particular machine 800 (e.g., the compute service manager 108 or a node in the execution platform 110) that is specially configured to carry out any one of the described and illustrated functions in the manner described herein.

In alternative embodiments, the machine 800 operates as a standalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 800 may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine 800 may comprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a smart phone, a mobile device, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing the instructions 816, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to be taken by the machine 800. Further, while only a single one of the machines 800 is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include a collection of machines 800 that individually or jointly execute the instructions 816 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The machine 800 includes multi-core processors 810, memory 830, and input/output (I/O) components 850 configured to communicate with each other such as via a bus 802. In an example embodiment, the multi-core processors 810 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 812 and a processor 814 that may execute the instructions 816. The term “processor” is intended to include multi-core processors 810 that may comprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that may execute instructions 816 contemporaneously. Although FIG. 8 shows multi-core processors 810, the machine 800 may include a single processor with a single core, a single processor with multiple cores (e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a single core, multiple processors with multiple cores, or any combination thereof.

The memory 830 may include a main memory 832, a static memory 834, and a storage unit 836, all accessible to the multi-core processors 810 such as via the bus 802. The main memory 832, the static memory 834, and the storage unit 836 store the instructions 816 embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 816 may also reside, completely or partially, within the main memory 832, within the static memory 834, within machine storage medium 838 of the storage unit 836, within at least one of the multi-core processors 810 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine 800.

The I/O components 850 include components to receive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/O components 850 that are included in a particular machine 800 will depend on the type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobile phones will likely include a touch input device or other such input mechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include such a touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 850 may include many other components that are not shown in FIG. 8. The I/O components 850 are grouped according to functionality merely for simplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no way limiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 850 may include output components 852 and input components 854. The output components 852 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as a plasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g., speakers), other signal generators, and so forth. The input components 854 may include alphanumeric input components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receive alphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumeric input components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or another pointing instrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touch screen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures, or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., a microphone), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies. The I/O components 850 may include communication components 864 operable to couple the machine 800 to a network 881 or devices 880 via a coupling 882 and a coupling 882, respectively. For example, the communication components 864 may include a network interface component or another suitable device to interface with the network 881. In further examples, the communication components 864 may include wired communication components, wireless communication components, cellular communication components, and other communication components to provide communication via other modalities. The devices 880 may be another machine or any of a wide variety of peripheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a universal serial bus (USB)). For example, as noted above, the machine 800 may correspond to any one of the compute service manager 108 or the execution platform 110, and the devices 880 may include the client device 114 or any other computing device described herein as being in communication with the database system 102 or the cloud storage platform 104.

The various memories (e.g., 830, 832, 834, and/or memory of the processor(s) 810 and/or the storage unit 836) may store one or more sets of instructions 816 and data structures (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. These instructions 816, when executed by the processor(s) 810, cause various operations to implement the disclosed embodiments.

As used herein, the terms “machine-storage medium,” “device-storage medium,” and “computer-storage medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms refer to a single or multiple storage devices and/or media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store executable instructions and/or data. The terms shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media, including memory internal or external to processors. Specific examples of machine-storage media, computer-storage media, and/or device-storage media include non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The terms “machine-storage media,” “computer-storage media,” and “device-storage media” specifically exclude carrier waves, modulated data signals, and other such media, at least some of which are covered under the term “signal medium” discussed below.

In various example embodiments, one or more portions of the network 881 may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local-area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan-area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the public switched telephone network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, the network 881 or a portion of the network 881 may include a wireless or cellular network, and the coupling 882 may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or another type of cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling 882 may implement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as Single Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1xRTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, others defined by various standard-setting organizations, other long-range protocols, or other data transfer technology.

The instructions 816 may be transmitted or received over the network 881 using a transmission medium via a network interface device (e.g., a network interface component included in the communication components 864) and utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)). Similarly, the instructions 816 may be transmitted or received using a transmission medium via the coupling 882 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 880. The terms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying the instructions 816 for execution by the machine 800, and include digital or analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitate communication of such software. Hence, the terms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any form of modulated data signal, carrier wave, and so forth. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal.

The terms “machine-readable medium,” “computer-readable medium,” and “device-readable medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms are defined to include both machine-storage media and transmission media. Thus, the terms include both storage devices/media and carrier waves/modulated data signals.

The various operations of example methods described herein may be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that are temporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured to perform the relevant operations. Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of the operations of the method 600 may be performed by one or more processors. The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine, but also deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors may be located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or a server farm), while in other embodiments the processors may be distributed across a number of locations. In view of the disclosure above, various examples are set forth below. It should be noted that one or more features of an example, taken in isolation or combination, should be considered within the disclosure of this application.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader scope of the inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a part hereof show, by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. The embodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein. Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent, to those of skill in the art, upon reviewing the above description.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one, independent of any other instances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In this document, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that “A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are open-ended; that is, a system, device, article, or process that includes elements in addition to those listed after such a term in a claim is still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: storing, on a database, a user defined function file comprising a function and a file reference object that passes a file path to a class of the function such that the only path for files used by the function is a path as specified in a call from a user; receiving the call for the function, the call comprising the path to one or more files; activating the function using the path passed into the class from the received call; loading the one or more files on a node of the database using the file path as specified in the call; generating, by one or more hardware processors, result data by processing the one or more files using the function; and storing the result data.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user defined function file is called by specifying a function name in the call of the user, where the function name is associated by the database with the class that comprises the function.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: creating a storage location reference to a storage location on the database, wherein the storage location reference is created according to a create storage location request generated on a database user account of the database.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the path to the one or more files of the received call is a storage path to a data location on an external storage device that is external to the database.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the call is received by a function server of the database and transmitted to the node using a network channel.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the network channel comprises a remote procedure call (RPC) channel.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the user defined function file and the function are activated in a runtime environment on the node.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the user defined function file is generated by a provider database of the database.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the node is managed by a consumer database of the database that is distinct from the provider database of the database.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the function is activated in a runtime environment in the node of the consumer database according to the user defined function file that is generated by the provider database.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the user defined function file comprises a Java Application Programming (JAR) file.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the runtime environment comprises a Java Virtual Machines (JVM).
 13. A system comprising: one or more processors of a machine; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the machine to perform operations comprising: storing, on a database, a user defined function file comprising a function and a file reference object that passes a file path to a class of the function such that the only path for files used by the function is a path as specified in a call from a user; receiving the call for the function, the call comprising the path to one or more files; activating the function using the path passed into the class from the received call; loading the one or more files on a node of the database using the file path as specified in the call; generating, by one or more hardware processors, result data by processing the one or more files using the function; and storing the result data.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the user defined function file is called by specifying a function name in the call of the user, where the function name is associated by the database with the class that comprises the function.
 15. The system of claim 13, the operations further comprising: creating a storage location reference to a storage location on the database, wherein the storage location reference is created according to a create storage location request generated on a database user account of the database.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein the path to the one or more files of the received call is a storage path to a data location on an external storage device that is external to the database.
 17. The system of claim 13, wherein the call is received by a function server of the database and transmitted to the node using a network channel.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the network channel comprises a remote procedure call (RPC) channel.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the user defined function file and the function are activated in a runtime environment on the node.
 20. The system of claim 13, wherein the user defined function file is generated by a provider database of the database.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein the node is managed by a consumer database of the database that is distinct from the provider database of the database.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein the function is activated in a runtime environment in the node of the consumer database according to the user defined function file that is generated by the provider database.
 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the user defined function file comprises a Java Application Programming (JAR) file.
 24. The system of claim 22, wherein the runtime environment comprises a Java Virtual Machines (JVM).
 25. A machine storage medium embodying instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising: storing, on a database, a user defined function file comprising a function and a file reference object that passes a file path to a class of the function such that the only path for files used by the function is a path as specified in a call from a user; receiving the call for the function, the call comprising the path to one or more files; activating the function using the path passed into the class from the received call; loading the one or more files on a node of the database using the file path as specified in the call; generating, by one or more hardware processors, result data by processing the one or more files using the function; and storing the result data.
 26. The machine storage medium of claim 25, wherein the user defined function file is called by specifying a function name in the call of the user, where the function name is associated by the database with the class that comprises the function.
 27. The machine storage medium of claim 25, the operations further comprising: creating a storage location reference to a storage location on the database, wherein the storage location reference is created according to a create storage location request generated on a database user account of the database.
 28. The machine storage medium of claim 25, wherein the path to the one or more files of the received call is a storage path to a data location on an external storage device that is external to the database.
 29. The machine storage medium of claim 25, wherein the call is received by a function server of the database and transmitted to the node using a network channel.
 30. The machine storage medium of claim 29, wherein the network channel comprises a remote procedure call (RPC) channel. 